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Instruments Used at the Observatory

Taqi al-Din used a variety of instruments to aid in his work at the observatory. Some were instruments that were already in use from European Astronomers while other he invented himself. Some of them or listed here:

• Each of these instruments were first described by Ptolemy.
  • An Armillary Sphere- A model of celestial bodies with rings that represent longitude and latitude.
  • A Paralactic Ruler- also known as a Triquetrum was used to calculate the altitudes of celestial bodies.
  • An Astrolabe- Measures the inclined position of celestial bodies.
• These instruments were created by Muslim astronomers
  • A Mural quadrant, a type of mural Instrument for measuring angles from 0 to 90 degrees.
  • An Azimuthally Quadrant
• Each of the instruments were created by Taqi al-Din to use for his own work.
  • A Parallel ruler
  • A Ruler Quadrant or Wooden Quadrant an instrument with two holes for the measurement of apparent diameters and eclipses.
  • A mechanical clock with a train of cogwheels which helped measure the true ascension of the stars.
  • Muşabbaha bi'l-menatık, an instrument with chords to determine the equinoxes, invented to replace the equinoctial armillary.
• a Sunaydi Ruler, apparently a special type of instrument of an auxiliary nature.

Clock mechanics

Rise of Clock use in the Ottoman Empire

Before the sixteenth century European mechanical clocks were not in high demand. This lack in demand was brought on by the extremely high prices and the lack of preciseness needed by the population who had to calculate when they would have to have prayer. The use of hour glasses, water clocks, and sundials were more then enough to meet their needs.

It was not until around 1547 that the Ottomans started creating a high demand for them. Initially it was started by the gifts brought by the Austrians but this would end up starting a market for the clocks. European clock makers began to create clocks designed to the tastes and needs of the Ottoman people. They did this by showing both the phases of the moon and by utilizing Ottoman numbers.

Taqī al-Dīn's Work

During this high demand for mechanical clocks Taqī al-Dīn was asked by the Grand Vezier to create a clock that would show exactly when the call to prayer was. This would lead him to write his first book on the construction of mechanical clocks called, “al-Kawakib al-Durriya fi Bengamat al-Dawriyya in 1563 A.D. which he used through out his research at the short lived observatory. In his writing Taqī al-Dīn was said to have been influenced by the Greek God Hermes. He believed that it would be advantageous to bring a "true hermetic and distilled perception of the motion of thr heavenly bodies." In order to get a better understanding of how clocks ran Taqi al-Din took the time to gain knowledge from many European clock makers as well as going into the treasury of Semiz Ali Pasha and learning anything he could from the many clocks he owned.

Types of clocks Examined

Of the clocks in the Grand Vezier's treasury Taqi al-Din examined three different types. Those three were weight driven, spring driven, and clocks with lever escapement. In his writing he spoke of these three types of watches but he also made comments on pocket watches and astronomical ones. As Chief Astronomer Taqī al-Dīn created a mechanical astronomical clock. This clock was made in order for him to be able to take more precise measurements from his observations done at the Istanbul observatory. As stated above the creation of this clock was thought to be one of the most important astronomical discoveries in the sixteenth century. According to his writing in his book In the nabk tree of the extremity of thoughts Taqī al-Dīn constructed a mechanical clock with three dials which show the hours, minutes, and seconds, with each minute consisting of five seconds. After this clock it is not known whether Taqī al-Dīn's work in mechanical clocks was ever continued since much of the clock making after that time in the Ottoman Empire was taken over by Europeans.

Politics

The rise and fall of Taqī al-Dīn and his observatory comes down to a lot of political issues that surrounded him. Due to his fathers occupation as a professor at the Damascene College of law Taqī al-Dīn spent much of his life in Syria and Egypt. During his trips to Istanbul he was able to make connections with many scholar jurists. He was also able to use the private library of the Grand Vizier of the time, Semiz Ali Pasha. He then began working under Murad III the new Grand Vizier’s, private mentor Sa’deddin. Continuing his research on observations of the heavens while in Egypt Taqī al-Dīn used the Galata tower and Sa’deddin’s private residence. Although Murad III was the one who commanded an observatory to be built it was actually Sa’deddin who brought the idea to him knowing about his interest in science. The Sultan ultimately would provide Taqī al-Dīn with everything he needed from financial assistance for the physical buildings, to intellectual assistance making sure he had easy asses to any types of books he would need. When the Sultan decided to create the observatory he saw it as a way to show off the power his monarchy had besides just financially backing it. Murad III showed his monarchs power outside monetary ways by bringing in Taqī al-Dīn and some of the most accomplished men in the field of astronomy together to work towards one goal and not only have them work well together but also make new forward progress in the field. Murad III made sure that there was proof of his accomplishments by having his court historiographer Seyyid Lokman keep very detailed writings of the work going on at the observatory. His writing stated how his sultans monarchy was much more powerful then others in Iraq, Persia, and Anatolia. He also wrote that Murad III's monarch was above others because the results of the observatory were new to the world and replaced many others.